Steelers and the Ravens

 By: Melissa Cunningham        

            Trying to pick a rival of the Pittsburgh Steelers is not very hard. Their rival is almost a mirror image of themselves.  Their rival has a menacing defense with superstar linebackers and one of the best safeties in football. Their rival has a punishing rushing attack with a very young talented running back. Their rival has a young head coach that demands respect. Their rival has a player who has been mired in notoriety in his career. This sounds like I am just simply describing the Steelers, but I am not. The team I am describing is the Baltimore Ravens.

            I stated in a previous blog, sports rivalries generally have a long standing tradition or history. The Ravens franchise has not been around long, being in existence under 20 years. Actually the real truth is that the Ravens were originally the Cleveland Browns, who the Steelers do have a rich history with. The Browns owner ripped out the heart of Cleveland Brown fans and moved the team to Baltimore. While that move took away the team, it did not take away the rivalry.

            Cleveland was awarded a team, and named their new team the Browns. While there will always be a rivalry with Cleveland, it never felt the same, because of the new stronger rivalry with the Ravens. Part of this is due to the fact that the Ravens have been a strong, competitive team. They have even won a super bowl in their short existence. The Browns on the other hand have been more or less a laughing stock.

            The other reason for this rivalry as I stated in my opening is the striking similarities between these teams. They are both teams known for their strong defenses. The Ravens have great linebackers like Ray Lewis and Terrell Suggs that lead their defense. The Steelers also have a great defense led by tremendous linebackers like James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley.  Both these defenses are extremely feared in the league and among the league leaders in overall defense and rushing defense.

            The one position on defense, that these teams have true superstars is the safety position. The Ravens have Ed Reed who has been a terror in the defensive backfield and always a threat to intercept a pass. The Steelers have the reigning NFL defensive player of the year in Troy Polamalu. Troy has been one of the most popular and respected players in pro football with a quiet demeanor and laser quick speed.

            Both teams have great young running backs on offense in Ray Rice for the Ravens and Rashard Mendenhall for the Steelers. These young running backs are tough guys who are depended on to carry the football to control the pace of the game for their team. But if they are unable to establish their running attack, the teams both have great young quarterbacks as well. Joe Flacco is a young quarterback out of the University of Delaware who has already been a multiple time playoff quarterback who has showed veteran poise at a young age. The Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben in his young career has two Super Bowl rings and as he gets older his passing attack seems to get better and better.

            Both teams know how to deal with a player who is drawn into great controversy. Ray Lewis of the Ravens was involved in a possible manslaughter which brought loads of unwanted attention to the team. The Steelers had unwanted attention as well when Ben Roethlisberger was facing his own problems in his sex scandal.  But in both these situations the teams pulled together and showed that the team would band together and actually become stronger because of it.

            These teams are led by tough, young coaches who have engrained their own toughness into these teams. John Harbaugh of the Ravens is not a coach that seeks the limelight, he knows the team is the attraction not him. Mike Tomlin came to the Steelers as the youngest coach in football at the time. He instantly earned the respect of his players and instilled discipline and a hard work ethic in his players.

            These teams have deep respect for each other. The games between them are hard fought wars that leave players injured. All the hate during the games is concluded by instant respect following the game. These teams both have a football philosophy that is eerily similar. Their rivalry was started in history, but was truly paved in tough, physical football. Both these teams show no signs of slowing down which will lead to great football games for their fans to watch and enjoy for years to come.

Pictures
Steelers- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_polamalu
Ravens- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Lewis

Pitt Falls Short, By: Cassie Gilkey

 The Sweet 16, Elite 6, and Final Four, is something that the Pitt Panthers will not reach this year in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. People are now saying that the Big East is not all it is made out to be. The conference has 16 teams, and out of those 16 teams 11 made it into the tournament, out of the 11 teams that qualified for the tournament 7 have already been eliminated. This is the second time in three years that Pitt has been awarded the number one seed, and failed to reach the final four.

This past Saturday, number one seed Pitt played number eight seed Butler in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The end of the game seemed as if it was going to go into overtime, due to the missed foul shot by Pitt’s Gilbert Brown, but crucial mistakes ended the game in a heart breaking loss with Pitt losing to Butler. Due to the missed free throw Pitt’s Nasir Robinson went for Brown’s missed shot and fouled Matt Howard of Butler with .8 seconds remaining on the game clock with the score tied. Howard then got his chance to win the game shooting one and one from the free throw line. Howard sunk the front end of the one and one to give Butler the upset victory over number one Pitt, with a score of 71-70.

Pitt has every tool needed to win an NCAA Tournament, but always fail to do so. They have the depth in which many teams wish to have, but sometimes Pitt does not realize the talent in which there team holds, and they do not play to the level in which they are anticipated to, but play to the level of the opponents in which they play. Some may say it is the coaching, and some don’t blame the coach’s but they players, but all in all it is the team as a whole with players and coaches combined. Simple mistakes cause them to lose close games, games in which should have never been close to start with. In 2009 Pitt lost to Villanova in the final seconds in the Elite Eight. It seems as though no matter how good of a season the Panthers seem to have, they always fall short in the tournament. Every year fans continue to cheer on the Panthers, in hopes that one season they will pull through and be the National Champions, but when that season will come only time will tell.

     ( Matt Howard shooting the game winning shot on Saturday, March 19 to upset number one Pitt)

The Effects and Why We Do It....

      By: Eric Cogovan

      For this blog I am going to take a different route on steroids. I've talked before about steroid use in High School students and beyond. This time I'd like to give you some info on the why people use steroids and what some of the effects are.

       One of the typical reasons for steroid use is of course to get ahead with a persons sport performance. Among athletes, steroid abuse has been estimated to be less that 6 percent according to surveys, but anecdotal information suggests more widespread abuse ("Anabolic steroid abuse," ). There are testing procedures for athletes that choose to abuse this drug and wish to cheat their way through their career. New designer drugs are continually becoming available for athletes who want to fly under the radar of testing. There is hope that with future technology, there will be no way for an athlete to use any steroid and not get caught.

       There are three popular ways that most abusers use steroids. Those three are called cycling, stacking, and pyramiding. Cycling involves taking multiple doses of steroids over a specific period of time, stopping for a period, and starting again. Stacking is when users frequently combine several different types of steroids. Stacking is abused by taking two different types of steroids. Such as using a gel and injecting the steroid at the same time to achieve a desired effect. Pyramiding is a process in which users slowly escalate steroid abuse (increasing the number of steroids or the dose and frequency of one or more steroids used at one time), reaching a peak amount at mid-cycle and gradually tapering the dose toward the end of the cycle ("Anabolic steroid abuse," ).

       There are many effects on a persons health by using and abusing steroids. They range from something physically happening to it being life threatening. Although the life threatening effects are mostly reversible, the signs may go undetected. Steroid use has effects on both men and women. For men, there are curable and incurable side effects. Men have been shown to have reduced testicle size and reduced sperm production. These two are curable things. Men who use steroids tend to develop breasts, which is an irreversible side effect. For women, there are also side effects. Those include male-pattern baldness, and excessive growth of body hair. The use of steroids have effects on the musculoskeletal system. Normally, this is an effect if taken by adolescent users. Abusing has also been linked to cardiovascular disease. There are also risks for infections. People may use illegally packaged steroids or they may share a needle with someone while injecting there drug. Using the drugs this way can lead to many viral infections and some life threatening. Sometimes people may not see the risks of their choices until it is too late.

       People need to be very aware of the effects of steroid use. I believe that most people may feel invincible to the drug and may think that it is only helping them. When in fact, it is destroying their body and causing long term and life threatening effects.

Anabolic steroid abuse. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.medicinenet.com/anabolic_steroid_abuse/article.htm

The One-Way Bus to Canton

 By Casey Reese

Richard Dent. Marshall Faulk. Deion Sanders. Ed Sabol. Shannon Sharpe. Chris Hanburger. Les Richter. What do all of these names have in common? That would be the 2011 NFL Hall of Fame class, led by arguably the best cornerback of the last 30 years, a tight end who revolutionized his position, and a member of the “Greatest Show on Turf.”

A familiar face was also eligible for election to the hall of fame in 2011. A legend in his own time we merely know as “The Bus.” I am referring to, of course, Jerome Bettis, number thirty-six, perhaps the most popular Pittsburgh Steeler in modern memory. The Bus, who currently resides at 5th all time in career rushing yards, seems to have lost the hype surrounding his candidacy for the hall that was so very high when the Steelers embarked upon a quest to Super Bowl XL in his own hometown of Detroit.

We best remember Jerome as the bruising back who would knock defenders to the ground upon impact, who would score the much needed touchdown from the goal line. We do not, however, tend to think of his career in perspective. Jerome is also 10th all time in rushing touchdowns, 4th in attempts and touches, and 18th in total yards from scrimmage. Not bad, especially when you consider the longevity of his career and the number of years he battled to establish those numbers. Keep in mind most running backs are not capable of producing much late in their careers (typically once the back turns 30). Bettis produced until age 33.

Is he worthy of enshrinement in the hall of fame simply based on statistics? Yes, but his case is also helped by the figurative rock Bettis was for the duration of his time in Pittsburgh. With tumultuous quarterback play in the late 90’s and early 2000’s, Bettis was still productive, whether it Kordell Stewart or Ben Roethlisberger handing the ball off to him. During the Super Bowl XL campaign, Bettis proved his value even further by continuing to produce 9 touchdowns in the last season of his career.

With his victory in the aforementioned Super Bowl, he also has something other running backs eligible for the hall do not have, such as Curtis Martin or Tiki Barber, and that is a Super Bowl ring. The 6 Pro Bowl selections, in addition to the 3 first or second team All Pro selections, also are a testament to his respect among his peers and journalists of the time, and the fact that he was effective for an extended period of time.

             So, despite his snub in 2011, I believe Jerome Bettis not only warrants a spot in the hall of fame, he deserves it for all of his accomplishments. After all, how man professional athletes have provided as much pleasure and excitement to the games you watch every week? The answer is clear and evident, and “The Bus” is going to drive right to Canton, Ohio where he belongs. 

 References:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/
http://www.profootballhof.com/default.aspx
Read Also:
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/598652-nfl-hall-of-fame-voting-10-reasons-jerome-bettis-is-a-lock-for-class-of-2012#page/1

March Madness 2011, By: Cassie Gilkey

Some people are dedicated to watching football, or hockey, maybe even golf, but for myself I love to watch basketball. I say I love to watch basketball, and even though the NBA is professional basketball I would much rather watch college basketball, where the players play to win and not just for money. Being that I love college basketball, I also love the month of March because of March Madness. March Madness is the division one men’s and women’s NCAA basketball championship tournaments. March Madness begins in the first week of March and does not end until the first week in April. These tournaments will ultimately determine the national champions of college basketball. NCAA March Madness began in 1939 with a total of only 8 team, but today the tournament has grown to 65 teams all striving to win the title of national champions.

Today 31 of the 65 teams earn automatic bids into the tournament; the remaining teams receive at large bids, except for the bid that is received by the champions of the Ivy League. The teams will be seeded numbers 1-16 with the number 1 seed playing the number 16 seed, the number 2 seed playing the number 15 seed, and so on. Since there are 65 teams, the Tuesday before the tournament begins, the 64^th and 65^th seed play in a play in game to take the total down to 64 teams. The tournament begins the Thursday after the play in games is played. The first round games will be held on Thursday and Friday, with the second round games being held on Saturday and Sunday. This will narrow the field down to what is known as the Sweet Sixteen. The following Thursday and Friday the field will be cut down to what is known as the Elite Eight, and then narrowed to the Final Four on that weekend. The weekend after the Final Four is decided the games get underway and the Championship game is played on Monday. The NCAA tournament is single elimination; after a team loses they will not have another game in the tournament or be reseeded. Since 1985 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams, a number 1 seed has never lost in the opening round to the number 16 seed. The 65^th team was not added to the tournament until 2001, making the need for a so called “play in game”.  

Ohio State, Duke, Pitt, and Kansas all received number 1 seeds going into the tournament this year, which starts today. Along with these teams, many others are also in the tournament hoping to upset one of the top teams and become National Champions. So who will win the tournament? This question is something that will not be answered until April, but I would love to hear others predictions.

Pittsburgh's Other Team: The Pirates

By: Melissa Cunningham

In sports rivalries are formed and forged through many factors. One factor is geography, such as college football rivals like Ohio State and Michigan or Florida and Florida State. These rivalries prospered because of how close these schools are and that every year these teams play and local bragging rights are at stake. Another factor is star power; a lot of sports rivalries are products of the teams’ major stars being marketed. An example of that can be found in my last blog, the Penguins and Capitals rivalry is fueled by the two mega stars of hockey: Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. Another example of this type of rivalry happened in the 1980’s when the Lakers and Celtics were bitter rivals; their feud was spurred on by those teams’ mega stars Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

Another factor in forming rivalries is history and tradition. The Yankees and Red Sox have a long rivalry that started because the Red Sox traded star player Babe Ruth to the Yankees which led to numerous championships for the Yankees and a long title drought for the Red Sox. This feud has lasted almost a century because of the rich tradition of these two teams and the legacy of players who played and participated in the rivalry.

But looking at all these factors, there is one reason that may shine above the others: Greatness. All the great rivalries in sports are centered on teams that fight over championships and playoff spots. So where does this leave the teams that are not winners? Outlining all the factors that I have laid out I will show why one Pittsburgh team is not engaged in a rivalry currently. The Pittsburgh Pirates were not always like this, they used to be a team that was great, that contended for titles, and that had rivals. But today is a different story.

The first factor is geography. The closest two teams distance wise to the Pirates are the Philadelphia Phillies and Cleveland Indians. The Indians play in the American League and the Pirates play in the National league, meaning these two teams do not play regularly and never really had enough in common to forge a rivalry. The Phillies and Pirates were once bitter rivals, when they were in the same division and when they were fighting for a playoff spot. Back in the 1970’s both teams desperately fought for the right to represent the National League East in the playoffs. But when the Pirates stopped contending for titles and when the league redevised their divisions, this rivalry fell to the wayside. The Pirates were in the National League Central and the Phillies were in the National League East. This meant these teams would only play just 6 games against each other a year. But more importantly it meant there was little to no playoff implications when these two teams played.

The second factor was star power. This did not use to be a problem for the Pirates. In the early seventies the Pirates had one of the true stars of baseball in Roberto Clemente. This transitioned to the late seventies when the Pirates had Willie Stargell and Dave Parker. Even the early nineties saw the Pirates have stars such as Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Doug Drabek. But the economics of baseball and losing game after game wreaked havoc on the Pirates. The Pirates lost their three stars of the nineties to free agency. Pittsburgh being a small market town could not afford to pay these stars the same wages they could make by testing the waters of free agency. When Bobby Bonilla left Pittsburgh he went to the New York Mets where he became the highest paid player in the National League. Pittsburgh could not lure star free agents into the city with the incentive of money. The only other way to entice free agents is a shot at a world championship. Unfortunately the Pirates now hold the pro sports record for most consecutive losing seasons. Meaning they have no star power in Pittsburgh.

The third reason was history and tradition. The current Pirates have no historical significance to spark them. Back in the early nineties the Pirates fought the Atlanta Braves consistently for the right to go to the World Series. The Braves’ fans would bring foam tomahawks and the Pirate fans would bring foam pirate hooks. This rivalry was forming and when former Pirate Sid Bream slid home to beat the Pirates and send the Braves to the World Series; it looked like the seeds were planted to start a rivalry rich with history and tradition. Unfortunately that was the last winning season the Pirates had and when you no longer stay in the playoff picture, you are no longer relevant.

As I said, the major reason for rivalries is greatness. The Pirates have not been great for a long time and because of that the new generations of fans have not seen them have a winning season. Baseball’s economics and a long series of bad management have made the Pirates into a place no team should ever be: a laughing stock. The Pirates are just now trying to get back to winning baseball. They are trying to establish new stars like Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker, while investing money into their draft picks to make stars of the future.  Only time will tell if the Pirates can become great and maybe establish a rivalry of their own and give their loyal fans a true reason to cheer and more importantly a true reason to care.

Picture

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Clemente

College: Is It Still O.K.?

By: Eric Cogovan

For many athletes the ultimate dream is to play sports in college. They spend their entire childhood and teenage years striving to do the best in hopes to have the opportunity to continue playing into their college years. Many athletes who go on to try and play college sports have had great success in their high school years of playing sports. Many of these students don't realize how hard it can be to continue on and be successful at sports at the college level. There are thousands of high school athletes with the dream of becoming a college level player which creates higher stakes for them to accomplish in order to play when they enter college.

The opportunity to play college sports can come down to a small difference such as one students being only seconds faster then the other it becomes increasingly stressful to be the best. A number of athletes may feel such pressure that they resort to unhealthy measures to become the best. College athletes may feel that the only way to become better is to use illegal steroids to increase there ability and look better then the rest of their competition. Also it can be contagious, if one athlete is using steroid other team members may feel the only way they can compete with them is by using steroids themselves. This is a vicious and unhealthy pattern which can have a horrible outcome.

Not only is steroid use unsafe and illegal it can lead to many other hazardous health issues. The continued use of steroids can lead to many abnormal muscle growth, aggressive behaviors, and even cause the user to become addicted, which can ultimately end in the death of the person who is using these steroids. Often college athletes are not just using one type of steroid, they have a specific pattern of how they use them. Usually in a cycle pattern where they use a number of steroids for a short period of time followed by a period where they do not use them at all. This cycle continues and often they combine different steroids which is called “stacking”.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has estimated that about 1 % of college athletes abuse steroids at a rate three times that of non-athlete students. This number may seem small but any steroid use among athletes is illegal and inappropriate. Not only is steroid use illegal and dangerous it is unfair to those athletes who choose not to use them. College athletes do not use these steroids to receive a high off of them they use them to increase there performance. This becomes an unfair advantage for these athletes and does not allow for actual sthletic ability to be recognized. Also the use of steroids is dangerous and have many horrible consequences. Steroids are like any other drug and can become very addictive and can cause death in extreme cases. There are number of health risks which in the end can cause a lot of damage to a persons body. The main goal of steroid use in college is to enhance the persons physical ability so they can become the best athlete but in the end it can harm the body and completely ruin a persons health for the rest of their lives.

Sources:

http://www.helium.com/items/1299831-drugs-and-sports-steroids-use-among-college-athletes

http://www.higheredcenter.org/high-risk/drugs/steroids